This invention relates generally to a multifunctional printing system with a plurality of services and/or subsystems, and more particularly to an authorization system for such multifunctional printing system in which access to each of the plurality of services is programmed in such a manner that each service is available to a user set ranging from xe2x80x9cNonexe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cAllxe2x80x9d. Additionally, access with respect to selected users can be constrained by requiring the provision of personal identification information, and access programming or setting can be facilitated through use of the Internet or the World Wide Web.
In the past, copying machines provided one basic service, namely a copy service. Accordingly, such services as print services and fax services had to be provided outside of the copier context. Multifunctional digital copiers now provide a wide range of services and are capable of processing copy, print and fax jobs all in the same xe2x80x9cboxxe2x80x9d. An example of a multifunctional copying machine is disclosed by the following patent: U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,107 to Naito et al (Issued: Apr. 11, 1989).
Relatively larger networks, such as wide area networks, are often characterized by the use of multiple servers. As is conventional, different types of network users have different access rights for the servers. Commonly, a system administrator (xe2x80x9cSAxe2x80x9d) has access to significantly more servers than an ordinary user. Moreover, even when both the ordinary user and the SA have rights in the same server, the SA typically has access to functions that are not made available to the ordinary user. For instance, the SA may have both xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwritexe2x80x9d capability with respect to certain files on the server while the ordinary user may only have xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d capability with respect to the same files. This sort of service differentiation is common in prior art network data processing networks. It is not believed that this sort of service differentiation has been applied to the area of multifunctional digital copier design.
For a networked,printing system of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,795 to Rourke et al. (Issued: Dec. 31, 1991) there are typically many types of users. For instance one type of user, such as the SA, will have the power to alter the settings of a host machine considerably while another type of user, such as the ordinary user will only have the power to manipulate his or her file(s). As disclosed by the Rourke Patent, the printing system is adapted to provide varying access rights among these different types of users. It is believed, however, that the Rourke printing arrangement differentiates among users for sake of providing higher levels of security and not for the sake of designating which print-related services are available to various users. More particularly, the arrangement of the Rourke patent insures that an ordinary user does not access files other than those to which the user is authorized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,056 to Salgado et al. (Issued: Apr. 19, 1994) empowers a service representative (xe2x80x9cCSRxe2x80x9d), as opposed to an ordinary user, to perform diagnostics on a printing system in a manner which would not be permitted by an ordinary user. For instance, the CSR has the capability to perform diagnostics on the printing system while permitting network jobs to be received by the printing system. As is also known, a printing system of the type disclosed by the Salgado Patent includes diagnostic subsystems which are unavailable to ordinary users. In essence, these diagnostic systems differentiate among users for the sake of insuring that ordinary users do not perform unauthorized diagnostic operations on a printing system.
There are systems in which ordinary users can take advantage of selective subsystem shutdown through a process known as xe2x80x9cgraceful degradationxe2x80x9d. In this approach, a malfunctioning system is taken off-line without impacting the operation of other subsystems with respect to the ordinary user. For instance, a malfunctioning scanner can be taken off-line without affecting the capability of a corresponding multifunction device to process print jobs. As opposed to the graceful degradation scenario, however, it would be desirable to provide a system in which the accessibility of users to services could be controlled programmably so that special users could access one set of print-related services while ordinary users could access a second set of print-related services.
In accordance with the presently disclosed invention there is provided an authorization service for use with a multifunctional printing system. The multifunctional printing system includes a printing machine for producing prints from an electronic document stored therewith. The printing machine includes a first document processing service and a second document processing service. The first document processing service includes a first set of one or more document processing operations with each of the first set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document. The second document processing service includes a second set of one or more document processing operations with each of the second set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document. The authorization system, which controls a manner in which users of the multifunctional printing system can access the first and second sets of one or more document processing operations, comprises: a programmable authorization subsystem communicating with said printing machine for setting a first access rights level with respect to the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second access rights level with respect to the second set of one or more document processing operations; and wherein, in response to setting the first and second access rights levels with said programmable authorization subsystem, a first set of users accesses the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second set of user accesses the second set of one or more document processing operations, and wherein the first set of users is smaller in number than the second set of users